'Ol' Ball Coach' will direct offense

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Steve Spurrier brought some of his closest
staffers -- and family members -- with him toSouth Carolina.

Spurrier said his son, Steve Spurrier Jr., would leave his
position at Arizona and join his dad as South Carolina receivers
coach, probably by Tuesday.

Mark Smith, with Spurrier at Florida and in the NFL with the
Washington Redskins, will take over South Carolina's strength
program. And Jamie Speronis, with Spurrier since his earliest days
with the Gators, joins the Gamecocks as director of football
operations.

"We're still talking to a lot of guys," Spurrier said Monday,
sitting in his new office next to Williams-Brice Stadium.

Spurrier, who won a national title in 12 seasons at Florida,
returned to college football last week when he was named as Lou
Holtz's replacement at South Carolina. Last week, Spurrier said
three of Holtz's staff members -- Rick Stockstill, David Reaves and
Ron Cooper -- would remain with the Gamecocks.

Spurrier said Stockstill, one of the region's best and fiercest
recruiters, would be South Carolina's recruiting coordinator.
Positions were still in flux for Stockstill, last year's receivers
coach, and Cooper, last year's secondary coach, Spurrier said.

But Reaves, the son of Spurrier's good friend and former Florida
assistant John Reaves, would likely work as an assistant
quarterbacks coach. "I'm usually the one working with the
quarterbacks," Spurrier said, smiling.

Letters were sent to the rest of South Carolina's assistants,
including quarterbacks coach Skip Holtz and defensive coordinator
Rick Minter, informing them that they probably would not be
retained. But Spurrier wouldn't rule out hiring other people from
Lou Holtz's final staff, saying if they wanted to hang around and
wait to see if they got a call from the new coach, that was OK.

Spurrier said he won't give out an offensive coordinator title,
preferring to do most of the play-calling himself.

So the next big move appears to be defensive coordinator.
Spurrier has talked Marshall assistant Jim Collins, Houston Texans
assistant Jon Hoke and outgoing Florida defensive coordinator
Charlie Strong about positions on his staff but wouldn't say which
ones. All have worked with Spurrier in the past.

Spurrier said he wants to get a defensive coordinator in soon
and let him have some input in the rest of the defensive
assistants.

Spurrier will spend much of the next few weeks putting his staff
together and swaying football recruits who might not have been
interested in the Gamecocks before. "We got a lot of in home
visits," Spurrier said. "We're getting a good response."